Wrong back boxes? and safely removing socket not needed

[Mallory]

Hi all and Happy New Year!

So, new year, new problem.

We have just stripped 6 layers of paper from a Edwardian house room, and three of the sockets have removed themselves along with the paper.

1. Two are plastic back boxes meant for plasterboard walls - the wall itself is brick covered in laths/horsehair plaster. I presume we can just replace the back boxes with metal ones screwed into the brick and replaster around them?

2. The other is the same type plastic box, but on a hollow lath/horsehair plaster wall. Can't see any way of attaching a socket to this wall, as the plaster is pretty unstable in this area and as there are plenty of other sockets in the room, we are happy to get rid of it. How can we close off this socket safely before plastering over?

Thanks

 

[jj4091]

If you cannot fit a blanking plate to the box then you need to pull the cable up into the void above the wall & fit a junction box

 

[securespark]

Or down. Or crimp the joints and plaster over.

 

[Mallory]

Thanks for your replies.

Crimp the joints? Sorry don't know what that means. Please could you explain.

Is this best left to the local spark?

 

[davy_owen_88]

Crimp:

Crimper:

Used to join 2 cables together 'permanently'. The problem with this is you would be leaving a live cable in the wall with no indication of its presence - unless the cables run horizontally between 2 existing sockets in which case they are in permitted zones.

http://www.niceic.org.uk/downloads/Pocket Guide 6.pdf

Davy

 

[plugwash]

probablly easier to keep the socket there than to remove it and make sure all cables are still in safe zones.

since your reskimming the wall anyway just cut back to wooden uprights, put noggins top and bottom and fill in with plasterboard.